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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27851350">I'll never let you down</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jessie2126/pseuds/Jessie2126'>Jessie2126</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Madney Comfortember [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>9-1-1 (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fluff, Gen, Rescue, madney</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 22:20:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,608</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27851350</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jessie2126/pseuds/Jessie2126</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for day 1 of comfortember. The original prompt was, rescue.<br/>Takes place after baby Noelle is born, and Chim is finally getting to put his nickname to good use.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Maddie Buckley/Howie "Chimney" Han</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Madney Comfortember [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2038870</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>I'll never let you down</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He misses her more than he’s ever thought possible. He knows it’s a short shift, 12 hours, but over the past month, he had been with her and Maddie day in and day out. He’s this close to texting Bobby for just 1 more day off until Maddie stops him.</p><p>“Chim, come on, we’ll be fine.”</p><p>“I know you will, but I’ll miss you so much.”</p><p>He kisses both of their heads before turning to the door. “I promise, we’ll text you lots and lots of pictures.”</p><p>And they do, almost hourly. He’s just showing the latest one to Hen, Noelle happily smiling as Maddie rocks her in her arms. Then they get the call, minor in destress. They rush, lights and sirens going, not knowing what to expect. The mother looks frantic when she opens the door. As they head inside, he looks around. A half-decorated tree stands in the corner and several boxes of decorations are spread out. The mother turns to Bobby, tears in her eyes.</p><p>“We were just packing up for the holidays, I went to the bathroom, was gone for less than 5 minutes, and when I came back, I saw her climbing up.”</p><p>Climbing up what? He asks, glancing around for a beam or chandelier. She points to the fireplace, face tense with worry. </p><p>“The chimney.”</p><p>He hears Buck try and stifle a laugh. Bobby turns back to the mother. “Don’t worry mam, we’ll get her out in no time. What’s her name?”</p><p>“Katie, she’s 5.”</p><p>He nods. “Any medical issues we should know about?” She shakes her head. “Great, so this is pretty simple, we’ll just climb up after her, hold her, slide back down, and inflate an air matrass so she has something soft to land on. Buck?”</p><p>“On it cap.” He rushes off, and Bobby turns to Chim.</p><p>“Ready to put that nickname to good use?”</p><p>“Ready as I’ll ever be.” He heads over, eyes the gap, and turns to the mom. “Don’t worry, I’ll have her back in your arms before you know it, I promise.” She gives him a thin smile and he starts to climb flashing them a thumbs up as his feet disappear from sight.</p><p>Not for the first time he’s glad he’s so small, making quick work as he slides up. It’s quite clean, and before he knows it, there she is, gripping onto the side of the chimney, a fearful look on her face.</p><p>He slowly slides up until there almost eye to eye and leans back in the opposite corner. “Hey, that doesn’t look to comfy.”</p><p>She pouts at him, mouth turned down in a frown. “NO, it’s hot and my fingers hurt.”</p><p>“I know they do, but don’t worry, I’ll get you back down to the ground before you know it.” </p><p>She eyes his uniform. “You’re a firefighter?”</p><p>“Yep, I am, my whole team came to help you out of here. Is it okay if I help you into this?” He holds out a harness attachment wrapped around his waist.</p><p>She eyes him. “Is it going to hurt?”</p><p>He shakes his head. “Nope, I promise, you’ll be attached to me the whole time.”</p><p>“I’m scared, don’t want to let go.”</p><p> “I know, but I got you. Have you ever been bungy jumping?”</p><p>“You mean like at the mall?”</p><p>“Yep, where they strap you into that harness and you go up and down landing on that giant mat.”</p><p>“It was so much fun.” The corners of her mouth crinkle up in a smile.</p><p>“Well, it’s going to be just like that. We even get to land on a giant cushion.”</p><p>“You mean like a trampoline?!!!”</p><p>“Exactly like that, but we won’t get to do that if you don’t climb into this.” He gently holds out the harness again.”</p><p>“But what if I fall when I let go?”</p><p>“I’ll tell you what. Keep holding on with both hands, just like that. I’m going to drop down a bit and help you get your feet in and then I’ll pull it up and tighten it. Then, you and I will be fully stuck together, so there’s no way you can fall, cause if you fall, I fall, and I promise I’m not going to let that happen. Does that sound like a plan?” She smiles and gives a tiny not. “Great, and if anything hurts, or feels weird, just tell me and I’ll stop.”</p><p>“How do I do a thumbs down if I don’t want to let go?”</p><p>“You can just say my name. Do you want to know what it is?”</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>You’re going to laugh. “My real name is Howie, but all my friends call me Chimney.” She giggles, and he slowly lowers himself down a few inches and, taking one hand off the wall, gently guides her feet into the straps, slowly sliding it up her body as he pulls back up to her height. </p><p>“Wow, that’s a funny name, how’d you get it?”</p><p>“I had to slide down a chimney during a fire, since there was no other way into the house. How does that feel?” He had just finished buckling the last few straps around her waist. </p><p>“Good.”</p><p>“Does it hurt?”</p><p>“Nope.”</p><p>“Awesome, you can let go and hold onto me whenever you’re ready.”</p><p>“Do you think mommy will be mad at me?”</p><p>“No, I think she’s just worried about you. She might even give you a treat.”</p><p>“Ice cream?”</p><p>“Maybe, what’s your favorite flavor?”</p><p>“Cookie dough.”</p><p>“Good choice, I love chocolate.”</p><p>“I just wanted to see how Santa did it.”</p><p>“Well, the big guy likes to keep his tricks a secret, so he might not want you to know and also it’s magic, how else does someone so big  fit in a place that’s so small?”</p><p>” Maybe, if I find out, he might put me on the naughty list.”</p><p>“Now we don’t want that, do we?”</p><p>“No, I’m a good girl, I need to be on the nice list. Do you have a kid like me?”</p><p>He swallows hard. “I do, but she’s just a tiny baby.”</p><p>“If she gets stuck in a chimney, I hope you rescue her.”</p><p>He wonders, maybe she will, maybe Noelle’s curiosity will get the better of her and she’ll try something. He hopes she’ll be as cute at 5 as Katie is right now. “I’ll do the exact same thing. I promise” </p><p>“Pinky swear?”</p><p>He holds out a hand and feels her little finger lock around his. “Pinky swear.” </p><p>“I’m ready.” And just like that, she slowly let’s go and wraps both arms around him, squeezing tight and it’s all he can do to blink back tears, remembering his own little girl at home. She nods and he hits the button on his radio. “All good Buck.”</p><p>“Yep, come down whenever you’re ready.”</p><p>“Okay Katie, on the count of 3, I’m going to let go and we’ll slowly start to drop down, but if I go to fast, just let me know and I’ll lean on the wall so we can slow down. Is that okay with you?”</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>“Great.” He presses down on the radio. “Coming down now.” Then he smiles up at Katie. “Here we go, 1, 2, 3.” He slowly takes off both hands, kicking forward with both feet as they dropped.”</p><p>“Weeeeeeee, faster.” Who was he to deny her? He stops kicking against the side of the Chimney, so they slide down faster until they land with a thump on the cushion. He helps her off and smiles down at her. “Wasn’t that fun?”</p><p>Her mom runs over, kissing her cheeks until he gets the harness off and she scoops her up in a tight hug. “Mommy, it was great, like a giant slide. I wasn’t scared at all. His name is Chimney!!!”</p><p>“Buck stifles a laugh as he helps Chim out of the harness. He turns to her mom. “It’s just a nickname.”</p><p>She puts Katie down and rushes to hug him. “I know, they told me. Thank you so much.”</p><p>“My pleasure, she’s a great kid?”</p><p>“You were so good with her. Do you have 1? A kid?”</p><p>He wants to show her every single picture on his phone. Wants to describe every single detail of Noelle’s face, her hair, so much like his own, her eyes, the spitting image of Maddie’s. How she giggles and smiles and fills his heart with so much joy. But he doesn’t, that wouldn’t be professional. Instead, he holds up his phone, picture of Noelle and Maddie on full display. “One little girl, Noelle, she’s only a month old.”</p><p>“She’s beautiful. You’re going to be an amazing dad.”</p><p>He swallows hard, not wanting her to see how emotional those words made him. He’d never had a real relationship with his father, and he told himself that he’d do the exact opposite for Noelle. But he can’t say all of that to her, so he settles on, “thank you, that really means a lot. Katie’s pretty great. I’ve rescued a lot of kids, but she was one of the best. She was totally calm the whole time. Although, she might.”</p><p>They get interrupted by Katie who grabs her mom’s hand. “Can we get ice cream? Chimney said you might say yes.”</p><p>She gives her another hug. “Oh baby, of course we can, we can get any flavor you want.”</p><p>They all smile at the little family as they head out. He sends a quick text as they head back to the truck. “You’ll never believe what happened today.” As Hen backs up, he doesn’t think he’s ever loved his job more.</p>
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